Tipperary showjumping maestro Denis Lynch scores five-star double

The catalogue of major international showjumping victories continued to stack up in the past week, and though Tom Wachman and Daniel Coyle secured two four-star triumphs and Darragh Kenny and Shane Sweetnam posted some top-notch results, it was Tipperary's Denis Lynch that produced the headline act with two five-star wins.

Lynch struck gold on the double with Katja at the FEI Jumping World Cup Show in Helsinki, Saturday’s success a third at the highest level in a week in Scandinavia for the red-hot duo, as they had also delivered in Gothenburg the previous week.

What’s more, they almost made it four on Sunday morning, which would have been three in 48 hours, but had to settle for runner-up, which was no mean feat after their exertions. It rounded off a stunning week for the Tipperary town athlete, who also finished on the podium with Vistogrand.

Fresh from victory in a 1.50m speed competition in Sweden, Lynch and his 11-year-old mare repeated the dose on Friday, this time in a 1.45m jump-off class.

Given her predilection for going directly to sixth gear, the opposition were up against it once Katja left the rails intact in the tiebreaker. And that she did to score with aplomb courtesy of a blinding time of 26.67 seconds, more than two seconds faster than that recorded by Mans Thijssen (NED) on Nero Z, who was best of the rest on 28.81.

SEE MORE: Tipperary man set to qualify as solicitor in May

“The course was good and Katja felt really good,” said Lynch. “She’s very competitive and likes to go at a brisk pace. For the arena, credit to the organisers, everything fits under one roof and is fantastic, very well done”.

Lynch followed up by completing the podium in the evening's ultra-competitive 1.50m nightcap, guiding Vistogrand to the bronze ribbon in an event won by Italian Gampiero Garofalo, with Lambrosco. In the most dramatic jump-off, just one-tenth of a second separated Garofalo from Robert Whitaker (GBR), on Equine America Gentleman VH Veldhof, with the Irish pairing only another 0.17 seconds in arrears of the Briton on 38.75.

READ NEXT: Former hotel in the centre of Tipperary's largest town 'is in the right hands'

Lynch and Katja had the taste of success now, though, and on Saturday morning they got the better of Garafalo and Kadessa Z back in a true speed test, obliterating the opposition once again with a clear round in 55.26 over the 1.45m course to triumph by a meaty 2.36 seconds.

“As always, she’s very competitive and she likes to go good pace,” Lynch explained in the post-competition debrief.

“It really suits her to go that pace and she enjoys it, so it went to plan. There are things I’m not in control of so the only things I can control (are to) ride well, make sure I ride it the way she needs to be ridden, and then after that what will be will be”.

The pair concluded an outstanding week with a silver medal on Sunday morning. The Parco Sport Horses-owned chestnut gave her very best once more in another speed class but this time it was Jone Illi (FIN), with Caprivi 23, who were faster, getting the home supporters off their feet.

Katja would have been entitled to feel some tiredness but her clear in 57.56 was more than two and a half seconds faster than that clocked by Johannna Beckmann (GER) with Alphajet DB, but there was no catching the Finnish fliers on 56.57.